Chaucer's Poetry: An Anthology for the Modern Reader

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Page 145But 'Sooth play, quaad play,'°as the Fleming saith; And therfore, Herry Bailly, by
thy faith, Be thou nat wroth er we departen°heer Though that my tale be of an
hostiler;0 But nathelees I wol nat telle it yit, But er we parte, ywis, thou shalt be
quit.

Page 401This false juge that highte Apius— So was his name, for this is no fable But
knowen for historial thing notable: The sentence°of it sooth is, out of doute— This
false juge gooth now faste aboute To hasten his delit al that he may. And so bifel
...

Page 621Now have I told thee, sooth to say, 1180 My firste song. Upon a day I bithoughte
me what wo And sorwe that I suffred tho For hire, and yit she wiste°it nought, Ne
telle hire dorste I nat my thought. 'Alias,' thoughte I, 'I can no reed0 And but I telle
...

À propos de l'auteur (1975)

Geoffrey Chaucer, one of England's greatest poets, was born in London about 1340, the son of a wine merchant and deputy to the king's butler and his wife Agnes. Not much is known of Chaucer's early life and education, other than he learned to read French, Latin, and Italian. His experiences as a civil servant and diplomat are said to have developed his fascination with people and his knowledge of English life. In 1359-1360 Chaucer traveled with King Edward III's army to France during the Hundred Years' War and was captured in Ardennes. He returned to England after the Treaty of Bretigny when the King paid his ransom. In 1366 he married Philippa Roet, one of Queen Philippa's ladies, who gave him two sons and two daughters. Chaucer remained in royal service traveling to Flanders, Italy, and Spain. These travels would all have a great influence on his work. His early writing was influenced by the French tradition of courtly love poetry, and his later work by the Italians, especially Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrarch. Chaucer wrote in Middle English, the form of English used from 1100 to about 1485. He is given the designation of the first English poet to use rhymed couplets in iambic pentameter and to compose successfully in the vernacular. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is a collection of humorous, bawdy, and poignant stories told by a group of fictional pilgrims traveling to the shrine of St. Thomas a Becket. It is considered to be among the masterpieces of literature. His works also include The Book of the Duchess, inspired by the death of John Gaunt's first wife; House of Fame, The Parliament of Fowls, and The Legend of Good Women. Troilus and Criseyde, adapted from a love story by Boccaccio, is one of his greatest poems apart from The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer died in London on October 25, 1400. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, in what is now called Poet's Corner.

E. Talbot Donaldsonwas Distinguished Professor of English Emeritus at Indiana University. His books include Piers Plowman: The C-Text and Its Poets, Chaucer s Poetry: An Anthology for the Modern Reader, and, with George Kane, the definitive edition of Piers Plowman: The B Version. He was a founding editor of The Norton Anthology of English Literature.